The pilot study of user experience with traditional and improved cookstoves based on research in five Indian states, provides an understanding of traditional cooking practices, looks at some of the improved cook stoves currently in the market & assesses user experience surrounding use of these improved cookstoves.

Traditional cookstoves are used extensively across rural households in India. The use of traditional cookstoves corresponds directly to the free access and easy availability of cooking fuels such as firewood, cow dung, leaves, twigs etc. The development community across the globe comprising of governments, NGOs, civil societies and individual companies have been designing improved cookstoves to help reduce the pressure on forest resources, reduce the time spent collecting cooking fuel, decrease families’ exposure to indoor air pollution and reduce climate forcing emissions. Despite all the concerted efforts across the public, private, and NGO sectors, improved cookstoves have not seen widespread adoption across rural India, the reasons for this non-adoption being multifold. This paper is the result of a field research undertaken across five states in India over a period of two months. The first part of the study aims to develop an understanding of traditional cooking practices with regard to fuel and cooking technology. It also aims to capture the social and cultural activities that take place before, during, and after cooking across India. The second part of the study looks at some of the improved cookstoves currently in the market and assesses the user experience surrounding the use of these improved cookstoves. The findings of the study will be helpful in understanding the household level dynamics of cooking which can lead to designing stoves with more acceptability.